JETS 19, BILLS 13; Jets Gain Some Hope But Lose Sanchez

By DAVID WALDSTEIN

Published: December 4, 2009

When the Jets drafted Mark Sanchez last April, a few hungry Jets fans dared compare him to Joe Namath. He had some of Namath's talent, a touch of his flair and much of his self-confidence. Unfortunately, he may also have Namath's famously fragile knees.

For the second time in five days, Sanchez injured one of his knees. This time it was his right knee, which buckled during the Jets' 19-13 victory against the Buffalo Bills at the Rogers Centre, forcing Sanchez from the game.

He limped off the field with 8 minutes 15 seconds to play in the third quarter and never returned. His status for the game Dec. 13 against Tampa Bay is unclear, although he will have extra time to recover if the injury is not too serious.

After the game, Sanchez wore a brace, and he will have a magnetic resonance imaging test Friday.

''I have no idea,'' Sanchez said of the extent of the injury. ''It's hard to say. It doesn't feel right, that's for sure.''

Coach Rex Ryan was angry with Sanchez for not sliding on the play. Sanchez scrambled and dived for a first down between two defenders.

''He's got to understand I don't care about the first down,'' Ryan said. ''I care about him.'' He added, ''I never want him diving forward. I thought we were clear on that.''

On Sunday Sanchez injured his left knee while being tackled in a victory against the Carolina Panthers, and during the week the Jets brought in Yankees Manager Joe Girardi to talk to the team and also to show Sanchez how to slide.

Sanchez said in the heat of the moment that he just lunged for the first down, and he knew he would take heat from Ryan for doing it. Ryan said that if Girardi were watching, he would have called Sanchez a ''knucklehead.''

Sanchez said he did not feel anything until the play after the impact, when he handed the ball to David Clowney on a play in which he never came into contact with anyone. He limped off the field, and Kellen Clemens, who was the backup quarterback for Chad Pennington, Brett Favre and now Sanchez, entered the game and led the Jets on a 34-yard drive that resulted in a field goal.

With the victory, the Jets won for the second time in five days and evened their record at 6-6, keeping their faint playoff hopes alive. Thomas Jones ran for 109 yards and passed the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth consecutive season.

The Jets had three backs with at least 35 yards rushing as they piled up 249 yards on the ground, and looked to guard their lead with a clock-chewing running game, especially after Sanchez left.

It has been a tumultuous first season for Sanchez, the Southern California quarterback who was drafted fifth over all by the Jets. After showing great promise in the Jets' first three games -- despite a propensity for carelessness with the ball -- Sanchez began to falter.

On Oct. 18 he threw five interceptions against the Bills in an overtime loss at Giants Stadium, and on Nov. 22 he threw four in a loss to the Patriots. That game prompted Coach Rex Ryan to take a more active role in the offensive game planning, and to institute a color-based code to remind Sanchez of how careful he needs to be on pass plays.

The results on Sunday against the Panthers were good as Sanchez managed the game well and threw only one interception. He was even better Thursday, throwing 15 passes and completing 7 of them for 104 yards and a touchdown. He also watched as one ball was dropped by Braylon Edwards and another pass that appeared to be a touchdown to Clowney was ultimately ruled incomplete in the end zone.

Most important, he did not throw any interceptions.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills' quarterback, threw a critical interception to Darrelle Revis with 2:02 left in the game and the Bills trailing by 6 points. Fitzpatrick took a running start and heaved the ball deep to Terrell Owens down the right sideline, but the ball was short and turned into a relatively easy pick for Revis, who had two interceptions Sunday against Carolina.

After trailing for most of the first half, the Jets scored a touchdown with 44 seconds left in the second quarter when Edwards took a pass over the middle from Sanchez and pushed himself into the end zone. The play was set up earlier by a nifty toss from Sanchez, who hit Jerricho Cotchery in stride for a 44-yard gain along the right sideline to the Bills' 20-yard line.

After a 6-yard run by Jones, Sanchez found Edwards over the middle and the receiver powered his way into the end zone for the score. Originally the play was ruled down at the 1-yard line, but the officials reviewed the play and determined that Edwards managed to reach the ball across the goal line before his knees touched the ground.

It was an important moment of redemption for Edwards. Early in the game he dropped a long pass that appeared to be a sure touchdown. Edwards had gotten behind the coverage and was in the clear, but as he looked over his shoulder for the ball it bounced off his face mask.

PHOTOS: The Jets' Mark Sanchez scrambled in the third quarter before being tackled by Reggie Corner. Two plays later, Sanchez left the game with a knee injury.(PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID DUPREY/ASSOCIATED PRESS) (B14); Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis deflecting a pass intended for Bills receiver Terrell Owens, who had just three catches for 31 yards. (PHOTOGRAPH BY NATHAN DENETTE/THE CANADIAN PRESS, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS); Braylon Edwards atoned for an earlier drop by diving into the end zone on a 13-yard scoring pass to give the Jets a 16-10 lead. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DARREN CALABRESE/THE CANADIAN PRESS, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS) (B19)